HAYWARD — A new date has been set for opening the city’s main library, repeatedly delayed for almost a year as a string of construction problems dogged the $40 million project.

The 21st Century Library and Community Learning Center at 888 C St. will now open Sept. 14, across the street from Hayward’s old main library.

The overall project, which includes renovating the area around the library as part of creating a Heritage Plaza, totals about $60 million.

“We are so ready to let the public come in,” said Jayanti Addleman, director of library services. “It’s has been a lot of work, and our staff have been very busy. And now we are almost there.”

The library’s ground floor cafe will be managed by the owners of Hippies Brew, the popular coffee spot on Foothill Boulevard, and will be up and running for the grand opening.

The library, which will have meeting rooms and is expected to become a community gathering place downtown, was scheduled to open in October 2018.

But waiting on work to get finished so that electrical, fire and safety inspections could be made contributed to the opening being pushed back.

Work was also suspended in March amid a dispute among the general contractor and sub-contractors over payments, as well as through an overall shortage of skilled workers amid competition from other sites amid the Bay Area’s busy construction industry.

After the October 2018 date came and went, city officials said they planned to open in January — a target date that also was not met.

The postponements prompted the city to put Collins Electrical Company, of Stockton, on notice July 2 that it wanted the business pulled as a subcontractor on the library project.

The 91-year-old company displayed an “unwillingness to diligently pursue work required to begin smoke and fire alarm tests,” according to a city report.

“On various occasions, power has not been available for training activities or for vendor installation activities,” which the report said delayed getting in place such equipment as book return units, shelf check-out machines and security stanchions.

The Hayward City Council was set to consider ditching the company during a special afternoon meeting July 23.

But T.B. Penick & Sons, the general contractor for the library, said it wanted to keep Collins on board, and both companies said they were committed to getting the work done to secure a temporary certificate of occupancy, which would allow the library staff to begin working inside the building.

As a result, City Manager Kelly McAdoo recommended — and the council unanimously agreed — to pull the resolution from the agenda after McAdoo also noted the city expected to receive the certificate that same day.

“Never once have we been asked to be removed from a project,” Craig Gini of Collins Electric, told the council. “We take that seriously.”

Gini said it was “hurtful” to learn about the call to pull the company and that it gave Collins Electric a “black eye.”

“We felt that we did everything in our power (to keep the project on track),” he said.

Not everything will be ready in time for September’s grand opening, however.

Some woodwork in the storytelling area of the children’s section likely will not be finished, Addleman said.

“That’s OK,” she said. “We have other areas where we can do the storytelling.”

That delay is because the woodwork subcontractor has been slow in getting adequate materials, Hayward spokesman Chuck Finnie said.

Over the past few weeks, the library staff has been working in the building, stocking shelves and doing other tasks. They also have been holding “pop-up” events at the farmers market on Watkins Street on Saturdays and other community outreach.

“I like to point out that even when we don’t have a library building, we still have a library service,” Addleman said.

The open house to celebrate the Sept. 14 grand opening will begin at 10 a.m. Music, story-times in English, Spanish and Mandarin will take place, as well as guided tours.

Measure C, the half-cent sales tax that Hayward voters approved in June 2014, funded most of the library construction. Donations also helped pay for it, including $500,000 raised through the Friends of Hayward Library and $10 million from Calpine under its deal to build a power plant along the Hayward shoreline.

Designed by Berkeley’s Noll & Tam Architects, which was also behind the Oakland Zoo’s California Trail and the Antioch and San Pablo community centers and several other Bay Area projects.

The library will use solar power and recycled water to be 100 percent energy self-sufficient. The new three-story, 58,000 square-foot library will house 50 percent more books and other materials than its predecessor and have a makerspace featuring 3D printers, robotics and textiles, as well as a digital media lab and multiple community meeting rooms, plus a Homework Support Center in the children’s section.

Lloyd A. Holmes, a veteran educator with a track record of removing barriers to student success, was named as the fourth president of De Anza College. He starts his new job July 1. The Foothill-De Anza Community College District board of trustees voted unanimously June 2 to endorse district Chancellor Judy Miner’s recommendation to hire […]